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Search Continues for Paris Attacker; Indonesian Officials Release Results on AirAsia Crash; Congo Uses Clean Energy Production to Conserve Africa's Oldest Park, Save Gorillas, Create Jobs; Leaders Attend COP21 Climate Summit; India Is Important Developing Country; Indonesian Officials Release Results on AirAsia Crash; Poet Sentenced in Saudi Arabia for Something He Wrote. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired December 1, 2015 - 02:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


[02:00:08] ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Leaders from across the globe are meeting in Paris to tackle climate change. We will look at their ambitious goal and why they say the stakes have never been so high.

Plus, new information on where a key suspect in the Paris terror attacks could be.

And later, CNN goes deep inside the Congo to see what's being done to save these endangered gorillas.

Hello, and welcome to our viewers from all over the world. I'm Rosemary Church. Thanks for joining us. This is CNN NEWSROOM.

150 world leaders are meeting in Paris. The historic COP21 summit has a bold mission to form a binding global agreement on climate change. But not far from everyone's minds, the terror attacks that hit the host city just over two weeks ago. The summit began with a moment of silence for the 130 people killed.

Meanwhile, there's new information about a key suspect in those attacks. Authorities say Salah Abdeslam may now be hiding out in Syria. And there is also this revelation. The ringleader behind the terror rampage has more attacks ready to go before he was killed in a police raid. A source says those attacks would have targeted Jewish areas, transport facilities and schools.

Well, the specter of the terror attacks did not dampen the resolve of the leaders at the climate summit. In fact, some speakers on the first day cited the attacks as a source of motivation.

U.S. President Barack Obama helped set the tone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We offer our condolences to the people of France for the barbaric attacks on this beautiful city. We stand united in solidarity, not only to deliver justice to the terrorist network responsible for those attacks, but to protect our people, and uphold the enduring values that keep us strong and keep us free. What greater rejection of those who would tear down our world than marshalling our best efforts to save it?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And we go to Paris now where Fred Pleitgen joins us with the latest on the summit.

Fred, it was certainly a busy and ambitious first day at the COP21 summit. What has been achieved so far, and are these global leaders on track to get the plan, binding agreement on curbing emissions that was the original goal?

FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, that's something that's still going. We're going to have to wait and see. You are absolutely right. It was a very ambitious first day. Judging by some of the speeches we've heard, it does appear these leaders have that sense of urgency that they feel a binding agreement needs to be reached at this climate conference. Many of them saying the COP21 in Paris could be a change in global climate change policies.

One thing that's remarkable is the way President Obama is saying the U.S. needs to take a lead on all of this. One interesting thing he said in his speech is, look, the U.S. as the world's largest economy and the second largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world accepts its responsibility for climate change and also accepts its responsibility to help other countries deal with the effects of climate change as well.

In a very important meeting, for instance, between President Obama and the president of China, both of them acknowledging the urgency of having to deal with climate change. But of course, there are still major issues that need to be resolved. Is there going to be a binding treaty? How much will be enforceable? For instance, Angela Merkel calling for a global Cap and Trade scheme for greenhouse emissions. There are a lot of things that need to be worked out. There are two weeks that the countries that are here have time. Of course, most of this is going to happen in working groups and then, at the end of it, everybody here hopes some sort of agreement could materialize. Still unclear, however, how far and how far reaching of such an agreement will be -- Rosemary?

CHURCH: Indeed. We'll be watching closely for that.

But what about developing nations? What's been their reaction to trying to strike a balance between demands to cut carbon emissions and the need to grow industry in the economy?

PLEITGEN: Exactly. The issue between a development and protecting the environment is, of course, one that is very important to a lot of these developing countries. And one of the most important ones, probably the most important one in all of this, is going to be India. One of the things the Indian Minister Narendra Modi has been saying is, at this point in time, it is the developed countries. He says the carbon that should be allowed to be used should be used by the developing countries to make sure they have the right to economic development. Now, it was interesting because President Obama said, look, at this

point in time, the way science is going, he believes there does not need to be an issue between economic development and also protecting the environment. The two leaders met here on the sidelines of the summit.

Let's listen in to what both of them had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[02:05:33] NARENDRA MODI, INDIAN PRIME MINISTER: It is not just a question of historical responsibility. They also have the most room to make the cuts and make the strongest impact.

OBAMA: I want to emphasize that we agree that Paris must recognize and protect the ability of countries like India to pursue the priorities of development, growth and poverty eradication. And I know that that is something that is deeply felt by Prime Minister Modi. At the same time, it also has to reflect serious and ambitious action by all nations to curb their carbon pollution. So our teams are working together to achieve these objectives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: Now India, of course, a huge country with a huge population, and huge economic growth, and one that does have quite ambitious goals to try and curb climate change, but at the same time, is also set to massively increase its use of coal-fired power plants as well.

We'll talk about all this with our own Sumnima Udas who is standing by in New Delhi.

Sumnima, the Indian prime minister, talks a lot about climate justice. What does he mean, and what is his plan?

SUMNIMA UDAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. "Climate justice and equitable burden sharing," those are the few words Modi keeps saying, all the leaders in India keep reiterating. Basically, India stands right now seems pretty firm. I wouldn't say nonnegotiable, but pretty firm. India wants to fight this battle against climate change because India takes it seriously. Already this year, thousands of people have died as a result of global warming, of flooding, you know, unseasonable monsoon rains. India takes this seriously. At the same time, it's a champion for the developing nation, wants to act like the champion for developing nation. Over the past 100 or 150-odd years, the industrialized nations have taken advantage of cheap fuel, fossil fuel, and developed as a result of it. And now developing nations like India also need that carbon gap or that chance to grow, if you will, because hundreds of millions of people still live in poverty here. This needs to be shared equally -- Fred?

PLEITGEN: Well, looking at Indian public opinion with the people there. Do they think that he is actually going to be successful with this stance? Do they think that he -- that the developed nations like for instance the U.S. and the E.U., which is also a massive producer of carbon greenhouse gases, are going to relent to this and say maybe we will cut down our use of greenhouse gases so that countries like India can continue to develop?

UDAS: Well, India has said it will harness 40 percent of its energy needs through renewable sources by 2030. See that's a very ambitious plan. A remarkable plan really. India is doing a number of things already to meet that goal. At the same time, India needs help, or developing nations in general need help from the developed world in terms of climate financing, in terms of cheaper options, solar panels, for instance. So that's something that India is looking for support. But at the same time, India will do what it needs to do. India's carbon -- India's use of coal will actually double by 2030, and that's a reality of the situation. Now on the ground, when you talk to people here, the level of pollution is very, very apparent. Just today the PM-2.5 level was at 300. That's pretty much as bad as it was in Beijing yesterday. But there was no sort of alert here. There's no awareness here in the same way that you have in Beijing. So people aren't talking about it as much. But people are certainly feeling it already here -- Fred?

[02:09:43] PLEITGEN: Sumnima Udas, thank you very much, standing by for us in New Delhi.

And, of course, Rosemary, India is such an important case and such an interesting country in all of this because it has that gigantic population and large economic growth. But one of the things Narendra Modi said today is that India is a country where some 300 million people still don't even have access to energy, to things like electricity. So still there is a lot to be done in economic development as well. And just bringing those two together, making sure that economic development can happen and can happen unimpeded, and at the same time, trying to achieve these climate goals is certainly going to be a tall task for the nations that are at the table here at COP21. But certainly, judging by the first day, it seems the vibe is positive and the countries are very ambitious trying to achieve some type of global agreement -- Rosemary?

CHURCH: Yeah, certainly a lot of optimism, but, still, you have to think, 150 also leaders and then the thousands of people there to try to make this work. But expecting people to all come on to one page, that is, indeed, very ambitious.

Our Fred Pleitgen reporting live from Paris.

We'll return to you, Fred, at around about the half hour mark.

We will take a very short break here, though. We'll have more of your global news when we come back. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: I'm Rachel Nichols, with your CNN "World Sport" headlines. Kobe Bryant, one of the most famous and accomplished basketball

players on the planet, has confirmed this season, his 20th with the L.A. Lakers, will be his last. Let's just stop there for a minute, because he's only 37 years old, which means he's been playing in the NBA for more than half his life. Leaving the stage after that kind of career, never easy for anyone. But Kobe acknowledged the injuries and diminished play endured in recent years have taken their hole.

No real surprises on the FIFA short list. Since 2003 has the list not included both Messi and Ronaldo. The two sharing every award since then. This year, they are joined by Barcelona's Neymar who makes his debut on the list. It will be presented January 11th in Zurich.

One player who didn't make the final cut is Bayern's Robert Lewandowski. But maybe he should have. Back in September, the Pole incredibly netted five goals in nine minutes in the Bundesliga. No one had ever done that before. That's why Lewandowski has been awarded four Guinness Book world records. It's been a good season all the way around for him. He's got 26 goals in 25 appearances so far.

And that's a look at your headlines. I'm Rachel Nichols.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Indonesian officials just released the findings into last year's AirAsia plane crash.

We have Richard Quest is on the line with what was said.

Richard, explain to us, what was the cause?

[02:15:09] RICHARD QUEST, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT & CNN HOST, QUEST MEANS BUSINESS (voice-over): According to the Indonesians -- and the report has just come out -- it would seem that there were a series of technical failures on the AirAsia A320, highly technical concerning the so-called flight augmentation computers. And they created the crisis in the cockpit. However, the actual cause of the plane stalling was the way the pilot then responded to that. And in the words of the report, it was the way the pilot manually flew the plane, which eventually led to the plane crashing.

Rosemary, the facts are slightly different, but the theory and principle is very similar to what we saw with Air France 447 where you have a technical failure, but the pilot response eventually leads to the plane crashing.

CHURCH: The concern with this is what is being done when you are getting a number of instances where this happens, where you have this technical failure but pilots not responding correctly with deadly consequences, I might add. What is being done in the airline industry to ensure this does not happen again?

QUEST: You put your finger exactly on one of the single biggest issues in aviation and airline today. It is the way in which the airline -- the way in which pilots are trained for high speed, high altitude upsets in the aircraft. They are trained for engine failures on takeoff. They are trained for a variety of different circumstances. But this incident of these highly technical aircraft, having failures at altitude, at high speed requires the pilot to fly with precision in a crisis. And more and more airlines are now dramatically increasing the amount of training given to what's known as high altitude upset. This is a case where the plane lost two -- or at least there were warnings the flight augmentation computers had failed. I justice spoke to an A320 pilot who says, yep, that is serious, but it is not catastrophic. We are trained to fly the plane having lost these two so-call FAC computers, F-A-C computers. You raised a good point there, Rosemary, and that's the issue.

CHURCH: Yeah, it is, isn't it? And what about the situation where a lot of pilots, so many now seem to be putting the planes into auto pilot. Is that recommended? Should they be more hands-on in most of these instances so when there is a sudden technical issue like this they are ready and spot on to respond?

QUEST: You have to fly the plane in auto pilot when you're at altitude, the speed, the amount of air traffic, the entire scenario. You aren't allowed to hand fly the plane in those situations. There's too many planes around you in too tight an air space. The point is the training of pilots in these very rare circumstances, where there san upset, it's high altitude. A huge amount of training is done on takeoff and landing, which are traditionally, of course, 70 percent to 80 percent of accidents take place during -- only 10 percent take place in the cruise face phase of flight. But when something does happen during the cruise phase of flight, it tends to be critical and fatal. And that's what we're seeing here. So, yes, it's not just about auto pilot. It's about the training of pilot to not only working these very sophisticated aircraft but how to handle them when they fail.

[02:19:26] CHURCH: Our aviation correspondent, Richard Quest, joining us on the line there as we bring you this breaking news.

Indonesian officials releasing their findings into the investigation into last year's AirAsia crash. We have learned a series of technical failures resulted in the pilot not responding correctly, and that was what caused this plane to crash. So just repeating again, it was the pilot's response in reaction to a series of technical failures, but it's being put down to pilot error at this point. As we discussed there with Richard Quest, training is at issue here. We'll see whether the airline industry responds to that in kind.

We'll take a very short break here. But still to come, a Palestinian poet has been sentenced to die in Saudi Arabia. Why a judge says his initial sentence of four years in prison and 800 lashes was not enough. We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Welcome back. The U.S. embassy in the Afghan capital of Kabul is assessing what it calls credible threats of an imminent attack. The embassy didn't release many details only that the threat was for a possible attack in the next 48 hours. The U.S. State Department has been warning Americans not to travel to Afghanistan, but a spokeswoman says this latest threat does not appear to be directed at American citizens or U.S. interests.

A poet in Saudi Arabia is facing a death sentence for something he wrote. Now writers all around the world are urging the country to release him.

CNN's Jon Jensen has the details of this unusual case.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JON JENSEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Those who have met him describe Ashraf Fayadh as a poet and writer, brimming with hope that his work would help develop the art scene in Saudi Arabia. Today, Fayadh is sitting in a Saudi prison facing the death penalty.

The Saudi-born Palestinian poet was charged this month with insulting Islam and apostasy, mostly through his writing.

Human Rights Watch say Fayadh was first arrested in 2013 after he argued with a man in a cafe over his poetry and a complaint was filed with the Saudi ultra conservative religious police that he insulted Islam. Later, he was initially sentenced to four years in prison with 800 lashes, charged with having inappropriate relations with the opposite sex after police discovered photographs on his phone posing with women at an art gallery.

[02:25:09] (on camera): An appeal by prosecution is what led to the recent conviction of death. Now CNN has reached out to Saudi authorities for comment on Fayadh's case but there's been no response.

(voice-over): Human rites groups have expressed outrage at the case, saying Fayadh was exercising personal freedoms of expression. A London-based association of writers condemned the verdict in an open letter, calling for his release. Britain's poet laurite, Carol Ann Duffy, and Syrian poet, Adonese (ph), were two of many prominent writers to sign.

The monarchy is facing increasing international criticism over its opaque judicial system. Earlier this year, a Saudi blogger received the first set of a sentence of 1,000 lashes following a conviction for insulting Islam online. That man, Raif Badawi, also received 10 years in prison.

Many death sentences in Saudi are conducted by beheading. Fayadh may yet have hope. He can appeal to Saudi's highest court within 30 days.

Jon Jensen, CNN, Abu Dhabi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: The lone surviving Paris terror suspect is still at large. Coming up, where authorities think he may be now. We're back in a moment with that and more.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:30:13] ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome back to our viewers from all around the world. And hello to our viewers just joining us from the United States. I'm Rosemary Church. I want to update you on the stories this hour.

Indonesian officials say both technical failures and pilot errors were responsible for the deadly crash of an AirAsia jet last December. They found that the pilot responded incorrectly to a series of system malfunctions resulting in the crash. All 162 people on board that plane were killed.

The leaders of 150 countries are meeting in Paris for the COP21 climate summit, their goal, to agree on a legally binding reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. On Monday, the presidents of the U.S. and Russia spoke one on one. Russian President Vladimir Putin called climate change one of the greatest threats humanity is facing.

Meanwhile, the White House has outlined several new counterterrorism measures, including a new senior adviser to President Obama, national security expert, Robert Malley. Other measures include tightening security for the American visa waiver program.

A source tells CNN more terror attacks in Paris were ready to go. A man who had been in touch with the cousin of the attack's ringleader said more violence was planned for Jewish areas, transport networks and schools. Abdelhamid Abaaoud and his cousin were killed during a French raid in a suburb of Paris.

Well, the hunt is still on for a surviving suspect in the Paris attacks. New information is emerging about Salah Abdeslam and his possible

whereabouts.

Alexandra Field has our update.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The search for Salah Abdeslam, a global manhunt that's turned up few leads. Sources tell CNN French intelligence authorities are now working under the assumption he may be in Syria. But Belgian officials are not convinced and still searching neighborhoods in his hometown of Brussels.

(on camera): A day after the attacks, at 1:00 in the afternoon, Salah Abdeslam turns up here in a neighborhood in Brussels. A childhood friend meets him at this metro station. The men go on to a cafe and, at some point, Abdeslam tells his pal about how his brother, Ibrahim, has killed people in Paris and then blown himself up.

(voice-over): The men then drive several minutes until the suspect gets out somewhere in the Brussels neighborhood of Schaerbeek.

UNIDENTIFIED ATTORNEY: My client doesn't know how long Salah stayed. High doesn't know if Salah stayed in Schaerbeek. Maybe he went somewhere else afterwards. My client doesn't know.

FIELD: Sources close to the investigation now reveal more details about Abdeslam's alleged role. In September, he's seen in Paris. In October, he purchases 10 detonators at a fireworks store north of the capital. Two days before the attack he's caught on a gas station camera. Police say Abdeslam drove the car to the soccer station to drop off bombers before abandoning it in the pedestrian crosswalk near the site of one of the attacks. The investigators later track his phone. Days after they find discarded suicide vest.

130 people are killed by seven terrorists who shoot them and detonate bombs on the night of November 13th. By morning, the only living suspect is gone. Salah Abdeslam crosses the border from France to Belgium driven by two friends. Police stop Abdeslam at the border but eventually let him go, not realizing they'd just questioned one of the world's most-wanted men.

Alexandra Field, CNN, Brussels.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Our Fred Pleitgen is in Paris and joins us now with more on the terror investigation.

So, Fred, as we saw and heard in that report, Belgian authorities don't agree, but French authorities think Salah Abdeslam may have escaped to Syria. How would that have been possible in the aftermath of the Paris attacks?

FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's a very good question, Rosemary, and one where the Belgians are quite skeptical that's something that could have happened. We have to keep in mind when we look at the timeline that, first of all, he was for a short time picked up by the French security forces, questioned, but the other thing also is this manhunt, this global manhunt for him was put in place shortly after the Paris attacks happened when the investigators here found out this cell including Salah Abdeslam and Abdelhamid Abaaoud was responsible for these attacks. So that's probably one of the reasons why the Belgians feel there is no evidence at this point in time he could already be in Syria. And also why you have to keep in mind there's a trace, as Alexandra was just saying in her report, that showed at least for a certain period of time, he was in and around the Brussels area. That was one of the reasons why the town of Brussels was under a virtual state of lockdown for the early part of last week because the authorities there believed that he could very well have still been there, and also that there is most probably a network supporting him because they don't believe that Abdeslam, could be able to remain in hiding, would be able to remain on the run from authorities for this long period of time without having some sophisticated network behind him.

[02:35:56] CHURCH: Yeah. It's a concern, of course, if he hasn't gone to Syria. The big concern, where is he now and how has he gone so quiet for so long?

But I did want to ask you more about what we're learning regarding the investigation currently under way, specifically relating to new details of other attacks that were apparently imminent.

PLEITGEN: Exactly. This is also part of this cell but, of course, the one that relates to Abdelhamid Abaaoud who some say is probably the one who plotted the Paris attacks and who was plotting further attacks afterwards as well. That goes back in the apartment raid in Saint-Denis several days after the attack. Abaaoud was killed. His cousin was also killed. And, of course, a third person who blew himself up. Now they believe from witness testimony, this is according to sources close to the investigation, that new attacks were, quote, ready to go, and that these attacks could very well have hit Jewish areas in Paris, the transport network and schools as well. And, of course, the Paris prosecutor has already come out and said that apparently there was an attack also plotted against the commercial area. French media are reporting a witness has said that Abaaoud had tried to get his cousin to buy him, quote, "a flashy suit and some shoes" to make sure he could blend in there before unleashing terror there. So certainly, it appears, if all of this is true, there could have been another wave of terror there in the making if those raids on the Saint-Denis apartments had not taken place when they did -- Rosemary?

CHURCH: The details are chilling for sure.

Fred Pleitgen, reporting live from Paris. Many thanks to you, Fred.

Technical failures and pilot errors, as we have been telling you, investigators say both were responsible for the crash of an AirAsia flight last December. This report, out moments ago, is the first explanation given to victims' families, like those you see here, of how and why the plane went down. Transportation officials said that the pilot responded incorrectly to a series of system malfunctions on the jet causing that crash. All 162 people on board were killed when the plane crashed into the java sea.

Let's turn to international correspondent, Paula Hancocks.

The report just been released, as we've said. Let's talk more about those findings. Of course, they bring very little comfort to the loved ones of those who were lost.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Rosemary. 162 people, remember, died on board that plane. This is the first official report that they have heard into what happened to their loved ones. Now from this report, we understand there were a series of technical faults but ultimately it was the pilot error that led to the stall of that aircraft, and they were unable to rectify the fault and unable to protect those on board. Technical faults followed by pilot error is what we're taking from this report, the flight control computer appears to be key. We understand that there was a cracking of a solar joint and there were four alerts that went off. Four master cautions, which is alert the pilots to some problem in the plane. And those crew then tried to rectify the situation but now what they tried to do, according to this report, is to reset that flight control computer. But then there was an electrical fault. So that disengaged the auto pilot. All of a sudden at 32,000 feet, or higher than that, as they had asked to go higher, all of a sudden, they are in manual mode and that's where they were unable to control the plane at 32,000 feet they'd asked to go higher. We know there were thunderstorms in the area. The weather conditions were not good. So there were a number of factors that would have made it even more stressful for that flight crew to try to rectify the situation. As this report says, ultimately, it was the pilot error that brought the plane down after those technical faults.

[02:40:11] CHURCH: And, Paula, of course it's horrifying for everybody. Everyone across the world watching this and getting the details on this report. We've all flown at some point in our lives and we propose to fly again. The focus now is what are they going to do? Did it suggest any solutions to this? Did it talk about training or did it just deal with the cause?

HANCOCKS: What we've seen so far is just dealing with the cause. The whole reason for this report is to make sure this doesn't happen again, that lessons are learned from this incident. One thing that was interesting, when they talked about the cracking of this shoulder joint in the flight control computer is they talked of unresolved repetitive faults. We need to know whether that was a fact there were problems before on this airplane, whether the maintenance was not good enough, not rectified before. We simply don't know. That fault occurred four times on the flight itself. They'll be looking at the maintenance and whether or not there was an error within the system itself. And they will be also looking at whether or not they can increase the training of air pilots. We know from our Richard Quest, our aviation correspondent, a half hour ago, mentioning airlines are increasing the amount of training they give to pilots in the respect of stressful situations. Quite often they are trained heavily in the takeoff and landing scenarios which are considered to be the most dangerous or more concerning times of a flight. But they are also increasing the training that these pilots and crew have when they are at high altitude and when they do face these multiple conditions like this -- Rosemary?

CHURCH: The focus will most definitely be pilot training going forward.

Paula Hancocks, reporting there from Seoul in South Korea. Many thanks to you.

Congo is turning to clean energy production to conserve Africa's oldest park and its endangered mountain gorillas while creating jobs for people in the region. We will explain and have a report for you. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Pedram Javaheri, with you, CNN "Weather Watch."

(WEATHER REPORT)

(END VIDEOTAPE) (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:46:10] CHURCH: Welcome back. Congo is home to Africa's oldest park, the Virunga National Park. Some of the world's last remaining mountain gorillas live there.

But amid war and poverty, CNN's Arwa Damon has details on a solution to save the gorillas and the world heritage site.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): By night, the world's largest lava lake becomes a mosaic of crashing deep orange red waves. By day, nearly one-third of the world's remaining mountain gorillas forage for food.

This is Virunga, a world heritage site in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a place of unparalleled biodiversity. But surveying the savannah below, park director, Emanuel Demorogue (ph), knows natural wonder isn't enough.

EMANUEL DEMOROGUE (ph), PARK DIRECTOR: That's actually inside the park.

DAMON: The park also sits in the heart of one of the longest running wars.

DEMOROGUE (ph): Just that little stretch of road there.

DAMON: And then there is oil.

DEMOROGUE (ph): That's where the drilling was due to be.

DAMON: The government has authorized U.K. oil giant, SOCO, to explore for oil. Conservationists called the move illegal amid allegations of intimidation and violence. SOCO has denied the claims. But this November, it abandoned the project.

DEMOROGUE (ph): There's still a lot of uncertainty there, and so we have to remain very vigilant.

DAMON: The traditional model of protecting park boundaries will never work here, especially not when four million people live in poverty on Virunga's edge.

So how does nature win? Like this, a massive hydroelectric project that will bring sustainable energy to an entire region for the first time.

This station built just outside the park is one of eight all set to be online by 2025, powered by water from Virunga's protected mountains.

DEMOROGUE (ph): Unless you have a healthy forest, then you have these steady water flows, stable flows, and you can reliably produce electricity.

DAMON: And with that will come small and medium companies and jobs, all dependent on the park's vigor to survive.

Lead engineer, Safari Kambani (ph), knows it will change his and his children's future.

"We live in the dark," he says. "This is going to allow a generation of youth to not busy themselves with armed groups but with developing the country."

And making that development reliant on power provided by nature means Virunga has a chance to win the conservation race.

Arwa Damon, CNN, Virunga National Park.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: For more on the conservation efforts we turn to Samantha Smith, leader of the World Wildlife Fund's Global Climate and Energy Initiative, and joins us live from Paris.

Thank you so much for being with us.

Now we saw in Arwa Damon's report a project set to bring sustainable energy to an entire region. Your organization wants to see more of this investment in clean energy. So what are you expecting to come out of this COP21 summit, and what do you want to see come out of it?

All right. I was wondering whether she could hear us in the initial stages. We're going to try to re-establish communications with her.

Actually, I understand we're good? Yes? Are we good to go to her? If I can just -- no, we're not.

We're going to try and re-establish that link and go back to it.

[02:50:20] Let's continue on for now.

And as world leaders work to reach an agreement to curb greenhouse gas emissions at the COP21 climate summit, China is struggling with hazardous levels of air pollution. You're looking at heavy smog in Beijing from just a few hours ago. Authorities raised its smog alert to the second highest level on Sunday. Look at that. It is just so thick.

I want to get more on this and what is becoming the worst stretch of smog in years in years. Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri joins us.

Pedram, it's so thick you can hardly see the buildings through it and the timing extraordinary. The same time we know China's leader is there in Paris trying to work on this legally binding agreement to cut carbon emissions.

JAVAHERI: Absolutely. Very ironic what's happening when it comes to the severity of all of this taking place. You look at some of these images. People see these and wonder, how can someone live in this environment where you have the air quality that's some 10 to 20 times higher than what is considered fit to breathe across this part of the world. In parts of the United States, air quality was this poor some, say, four to five decades ago. You work your way towards southern California, in Los Angeles, up until the 1950s and '60s, they had some of the dirtiest air on the planet. And then the clean air act in the 1960s. 1975, I believe, when new vehicles were required to have catalytic converters on them. The air quality began improving. Look at Los Angeles in particular. In 1976, 234 days were considered to have unhealthy air. From the 1980s into 2014, only 92 days considered unhealthy to breathe. Still a very cry from where we want to get to. In Beijing, in 2014, about 175 days considered unhealthy. One almost every other day of the year where the air is very dirty. China's energy consumption has a lot to do with what's happening here. Two- thirds of their consumption coming from coal. You burn coal you're taking care of fossil fuels, release greenhouse gases. And the particulates are incredibly high but greenhouse gases trap tremendous heat. Two degrees Celsius is the threshold we often talk about. The coastal communities, one degree Celsius is what the average temperature has been. In China that number is closer to 1.5 degrees Celsius in densely populated regions. The forecast going over the next couple of decades. Two degrees Celsius globally if nothing is done. Three in China. This would lead to dramatic events when it comes to sea level rise. When we talk about sea level rise, just a one centimeter rise in the ocean levels that removes the coastline back some 10 meters. You bring the water up ten centimeters, in Beijing, by 2013, it would be a 40 centimeter increase in sea levels. That would be 14 meters of sea level being displace td. Coastal communities being displaced and traumatic damage across these where we know tens of millions live across areas of Beijing and Shanghai and Beijing where the air quality continues to be an issue. Certainly, a one-two punch there with the warmer temperatures and the pollution in the atmosphere.

CHURCH: Certainly some sobering details there from our Pedram Javaheri.

Many thanks to you, Pedram. We'll check back in with you very soon.

JAVAHERI: Thanks.

CHURCH: OK, we've re-established communication with Samantha Smith. She is the leader of the World Wildlife Fund's Global Climate and Energy Initiative, and joins us now live from Paris.

Thank you so much for being with us.

We were watching Arwa Damon's department about a massive hydroelectric project set to bring sustainable energy to an entire region. Your organization wants to see more of this kind of investment in clean energy. So what do you expect to come out of this COP21 summit, and what do you think or what do you want to come out of it?

SAMANTHA SMITH, DIRECTOR, GLOBAL CLIMATE & ENERGY INITIATIVE, WORLD WILDLIFE FUND: Well, what we think is going to come out of it is global agreement that will limit the rise of global temperatures to well under two degrees Celsius above preindustrial times. As we've already heard that's critically important not only for animals and ecosystems around the world but also for all the people who are living close to coastal areas who might be affected by sea level rise, people living in areas that can be affected by heat waves, droughts and so on. We think there's going to be an agreement here. We had about 150 heads of state here yesterday, all talking about action on climate. That's more heads of state than have ever shown up for any U.N. event ever. It was a good start. There's two weeks of hard negotiations ahead before we get to a global deal.

[02:55:34] CHURCH: Just very quickly, what do you say to the climate change skeptics out there who reject the notion that carbon emissions are causing global warming? What is the science behind this?

SMITH: The science is more robust than science in pretty much any other area. And to climate skeptics, we just have to say you are wrong. People all over the world are feeling the impacts of climate change. All of us can say that we're experiencing weather, temperatures we've never experienced before, and that is true. We're living through the hottest year ever and this is caused by our emissions of greenhouse gases.

CHURCH: Samantha Smith, many thanks for joining us live from Paris. Appreciate it.

And thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Rosemary Church. We have another hour coming up for you in just a moment.

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